17th Century Spanish Wedding Chest

Wedding chest. Wood, textile, metal, polychrome. Salamanca, Spain, 17th century. Area of rectangular body with flat top made in carved wood that preserves remains of original polychrome, corners and other metal fittings and textile details in certain places. It is decorated to the outside with a molding in its lower area based on curved motifs and a simple carved decoration of vegetable theme arranged according to a rigid symmetry enhancing an inscription in capital letters on the front ("Viva María / Fernandez") allusive to the owner original of the piece. The interior has no decoration or more elements than the parts of the fittings of the corresponding hinges and the wood seen. The model of a flat-topped ark, with a rectangular shape, was very common in Spanish art as early as the Middle Ages, varying in its decorative elements as time and styles progressed. The metallic elements of the furniture (corner corners on red textile, lock shield on the front, hinges on the inside, handles on the sides to move it, etc.) have a decoration of waves and auctions that refers to models of the Baroque, in addition to columns (flanking the keyhole). The carved decoration of the front (flowers, leaves stems and birds simplified posadas, with simple polychrome in three colors -red, green, yellow-) is not too fine (something usual in popular specimens), and follows a composition and very colorful habitual in the popular coffers of the area of Salamanca, being common the use of walnut for its realization (as in all the Spanish furniture, for the resistance of the wood and its abundance then). The addition of a feminine name in capital letters (detail that would indicate that the present piece of furniture is an ark made to keep a wedding trousseau, hence the abundance of decoration in a popular utilitarian piece and the presence of a lock with a key) is another element to be highlighted in this piece of furniture. Similar model is mentioned in one of the most used reference books of the Spanish furniture, ENRIQUEZ ARRANZ, Maria Dolores. The Spanish furniture in the 15th, 16th and 17th century. 1951. p. 39; cat. no. 74; The m. 74; Beautiful example of chest or ark of bridal, popular Spanish style of century XVII...

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